Some Unholy War
by PlaidButterfly
Summary: Halloween 'fic! Obi-Wan Kenobi finds himself punished for his crimes by the new Crimson Empress and her consort Lord Vader.


**If my man was fighting****  
><strong>**Some unholy war,****  
><strong>**I would be behind him...****  
><strong>**With strength he didn't know,****  
><strong>**It's you I'm fighting for.******

**He can't lose with me in tow.****  
><strong>**I refuse to let him go.****  
><strong>**At his side,****  
><strong>**And drunk on pride,****  
><strong>**We wait for the blow.**

- Amy Winehouse, 'Some Unholy War'

-

It was much easier, Obi-Wan thought, once he gave up hope of any visitors.

Satine had come a few times, at the very start. On the first visit to his cell, Obi-Wan saw how very desperately she wanted to believe him when he said that he was innocent. But this light dimmed after each visit until, finally, she simply came to him with a cold and deliberate anger. "How could you? - How _could_ you?" He told her that he wasn't even sure what he was been blamed with.

When someone finally told him, he faced it with a sense of cold resignation - even admiration.

Padme Amidala had won yet again.

Obi-Wan had to admire what she had done. With the League of 2000 on the rise, confidence in Palpatine was waning. There was a power vacuum as the Jedi exposed Palpatine as a Sith Lord, and Padme immediately stepped into it, alongside Anakin. By the time Obi-Wan realized what was happening, the Jedi Temple was in flames and Anakin was on Mustafar. They had dueled, and to his horror, Anakin had survived - now entombed in jet-black Sith armor. Obi-Wan knew of the children from talk during the duel, and had scrambled to try to take them to safety - somewhere he could bring them up in the Light instead of the Dark -

It was a beautiful trap. Padme had waited until there was footage of him stealing into the apartment and abducting the children, not to mention plenty of witnesses. Then he was taken off in cuffs. An example of Jedi brutality.

Padme wore the mantle of the tragic mother well. She told the Galaxy about how the Jedi had left her husband for dead when he was merely fighting to defend her from the monster who was coming to steal her infant children. A groundswell of sympathy immediately answered. All she had to do was merely whisper the word _pederasty_ to make that sympathy explode into fury. With subtle words she directed the collective imagination to a dark and wicked place, justifying her husband's actions against the Jedi. Grown men and women who abducted children and kept them secluded from the world, brainwashed and dependent. It was all to easy to insert horrors where there were none. Suddenly the Hero with No Fear became a tragic and noble victim twice over.

Perhaps some of the other Jedi escaped. But they would never have the support of the common man, just as even Satine had abandoned him.

And so Obi-Wan waited.

The occasional trickle of information made its way down to him. Some had started calling her Lady Vader, but she personally seemed more fond of another title. The Crimson Empress. The Senate seemed all too happy to give up its power to her and her consort, as she promised reform and peace. Admittedly, she did deliver on these promises. The Galaxy flourished. Obi-Wan was the only one to see the hidden horror that fueled it all.

The dim lights flickered on. Obi-Wan wasn't sure what day it was, or even what month. Solitary confinement seemed endless and timeless, even with the Force as company. "Up," the guard barked. "The Lady wants to see you." He slowly rose to his feet. "Don't bother with bringing anything. You won't be needing it. And you won't be coming back." Obi-Wan had been expecting that. Despite everything, as the two guards dragged him down the hall, he still constantly tried to find an escape route in the renovated tower-turned-Imperial-Palace. Now it was all dazzling jet black, intimidating in its own way, and it only got worse.

He had always associated the senator with water - perhaps it was because she was from the Lake District of Naboo. The corridors were lined with beautiful channels of water, cascading waterfalls and delicate fountains that only became more complex as he entered the throneroom. Perhaps water was inaccurate. He wasn't sure if it was dye or some trick of the light, but every pool, channel and fountain was filled with a dark red liquid. Close enough to blood to be deeply unnerving.

Padme greeted him with a gracious smile from her throne. The dark crimson dress she was wearing was ornate and elegant, as usual, the long train cascading down the steps up to the throne. Behind her was a figure that made his heart sink: black armor and a steady wheeze. His former Padawan.

The guards dragged him in, and forced him into a bow.

"General Kenobi. It's so good to see you again." Her fingers flexed on the obsidian throne's armrests. "I usually enjoy having my children near, but for this visit, they are somewhere much safer, where I am assured you cannot try to steal them from us again."

It was hard to fight the fear as he looked up to see Anakin - or was he someone else now, trapped in that armor? - pacing back and forth behind the throne in a predatory manner. But perhaps if he could just find some way... "Anakin, _please -_"

"Speak when you are spoken to, General Kenobi," she snapped.

"Anakin - listen to me -" He watched the skull-like helm slightly incline. "Please - you know this isn't right -"

"You have been tried _in absentia_ by the Senate's special committee..."

"You can stop this - please, Anakin! _I know there is still good in you_ -"

"And you have been _found guilty_." Her voice rose in anger before her expression, and her tone, suddenly calmed. Obi-Wan watched anxiously. For a moment it seemed as though Anakin was considering his words; for a moment it seemed as if he was himself instead of Lord Vader, the Crimson Empress' Consort. But she reached up behind her, delicate fingers stroking along the helm, a cruel mockery of a lover caressing her beloved's cheek. "Husband, dearest... I am so tired of listening to this idiot's prattle." He turned to look at her, and through body language alone, it suddenly made sense. The touch was a reminder that he was completely hers. How long had she been planning this? Since that day they first met on Tatooine? How long had she been grooming him to be utterly dependent, utterly loyal...?

"Of course, love."

"Just one favor, dearest." She pouted a little at him, expression sweet and delicate even as she cooingly asked for something horrible. "Don't let him go quickly. He needs to suffer." Padme turned her head ever so slightly to stare Obi-Wan down, tone and expression hardening. "After all, he tried to steal our children."

As Anakin began to walk forward, not bothering to even ignite his lightsaber yet, Obi-Wan understood. It all made perfect sense, now. And as he went slack in the grip of the guards, head bowing, he knew there was no way out. There would be no way to appeal to that good still clinging to Anakin, and there would be no escape.

Instead the small spark of hope within him finally died, and he quietly waited for death.


End file.
